To Tell the Truth
by DiehardJavaJunkie14
Summary: What happens when Lorelai wakes up from a dream... and Rory's not there to analyze?  Challenge response, challenge stated inside.  JavaJunkie, takes place after Forgiveness and Stuff.
1. Confessions

**A/N: I own nothing, but I'd gladly accept a six figure check if ASP decides to take on a consultant for her rumored Gilmore Movie. This fic is in response to a challenge by gilmorefanforever. The challenge was to write a fic about what would happen if Lorelai came across something that made everyone around her tell the truth. It takes place right after "Forgiveness and Stuff". Telling any more would give it away. So, read, review, enjoy!**

Lorelai shut off her bedroom light and crawled under the covers, attempting to fall asleep. She stretched and yawned, trying not to worry about her father. She knew he'd be okay, he'd only be in the hospital for a few days, and he'd be home. She was so relieved that Luke helped her out when she needed it. She sighed, closed her eyes, and let her mind wander as she drifted off to sleep.

"_Remind me why we are doing this again?" Michel droned in his annoying French accent._

_Lorelai rolled her eyes and groaned. "Because, Michel, for the thirtieth time, a guest's engagement ring is missing, and we need to find it. That is what we do. Now would you please help me move the cushions of this couch?"_

"_I don't see you getting on your hands and knees to look for this ring, and I refuse to take part in this scavenger hunt," Michel stated curtly._

"_Michel," Lorelai barked, "I am wearing a skirt. I refuse to flash my paying guests. Now please, help me look for the ring, and once it's found, you're free to go."_

_Michel sighed. "Fine," he consented, sincerely lending a hand in the search for the engagement ring._

"_I'm going to look in the supply closet, see if it rolled underneath the door or something," Lorelai said. "Please make sure to watch the desk as well."_

_Lorelai walked to the supply closet and opened the door. She didn't expect a broom to fall over and hit her in the arm. She jumped back as an avalanche of cleaning supplies came tumbling down. She shook her head, cursing her luck, and vowing to have a talk with the cleaning staff. She attempted to re-organize the closet when she found a piece of paper._

_The paper was old and torn, yellowed with age. She unfolded it to reveal the message, "To Tell the Truth". She shook her head, not wanting to think about the significance of it at the moment, and crumpled it into her hand, heading to the lobby to catch up with Michel._

"_Michel, did you find the ring?" Lorelai asked._

_Michel nodded. "Yes, I found the ring. Now may I go home? An episode of 'Passions' is starting, and I have no more room on my DVR to record it."_

_Lorelai scrunched up her nose. "You watch soap operas?" she confirmed._

"_I am an addict," Michel confessed. "And I am also in love with steak."_

"_Steak?"_

"_You see, Lorelai, I pretend to loathe anything with fat in it, but to be honest, steak is a meal I cannot live without," Michel admitted._

_Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "You're free to go, Michel," she said, hoping his fever would go away soon. She waltzed into the kitchen, attempting to communicate with someone normal. "Sookie?" she called._

"_Hang on, I'm just looking through this Rachael Ray cookbook," Sookie answered._

_Lorelai groaned. "You're supposed to be the normal one here! You've always said you hate commercialized cooking… Emeril and all of them."_

"_Well, Rachael's food is just so… yumm-o, I suppose it's a guilty pleasure. What do you mean by normal?"_

_Lorelai reached for a cup to fill her coffee into. "Sookie, everyone's just coming up to me and admitting these weird and crazy things! I don't know why, it's just so weird. I didn't expect people to suddenly spill their guts to me on the third Wednesday in January. What is it, national 'admit to your lies' day?"_

_Sookie shrugged. "I don't know, sweetie, but I do know I have eggplant to cook."_

_Lorelai nodded, excusing herself from the kitchen. She looked at the piece of paper in her hand, and assumed that everyone was playing a trick on her. It wasn't April Fools Day yet, but that doesn't mean that a gag war wasn't raging without her knowledge. But then again, it could be some weird science fiction-ey happening that she'd be the only one to believe… The only way to find out was to head to Luke's._

_She always knew Luke would be the one and only person through which she could judge her sanity. He was her guidepost. If she seemed crazy compared to Luke, all was well. But if she and Luke seemed to be on the same page, something was definitely up. She wondered if Rory would be spilling the beans on any secrets she had after school… was the same thing going on at Chilton? She threw on her jacket and her scarf and started the brisk walk to Luke's._

_As her teeth chattered from the cold, she heard footsteps behind her. "Lorelai?"_

_She turned around. There was Kirk, with a pained look on his face. "Yes, Kirk?" she asked._

"_Why am I jealous of Taylor?"_

_Lorelai wasn't sure how much more craziness she could handle. "You're jealous of Taylor?"_

"_I'm power hungry, Lorelai! I don't know why, I just am! I've been yearning to run against him for town selectman, but I just can't handle the pressure. He's the incumbent, meaning I'd surely lose!"_

"_What is it that makes everyone think that the town psychiatrist is now me? I don't get it!" Lorelai said, flailing her arms in frustration. "I'm starting to think I'm going crazy!"_

_Kirk shrugged. "You're the town psychiatrist? Can we schedule a meeting? I have to discuss the severity of my night terrors with you."_

"_No, Kirk!" Lorelai said, walking away as quickly as possible._

_Lorelai opened the door to the diner and sat at the counter. "Please tell me you're going to keep me sane," Lorelai said, taking off her gloves and turning her attention to Luke. He turned to her, and looked into her eyes. It was a feeling she'd never gotten before. Her heart began pounding as his eyes met hers._

"_Can we talk?" he asked, pouring her a cup of coffee. "In private?"_

_She shuddered, attempting to regain composure. "Uh, sure, Luke," she said, unable to get past the tingling in her spine. She followed him up to his apartment and took off her scarf. He motioned to the table, where she sat, waiting for him to begin the conversation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black box._

"_Lorelai, my life has been so much better since you've been in it. And since the day I met you, I was completely unable to stop thinking about you. And seeing you with other people kills me. I've said and done lots of things in my life to prove otherwise, but deep down, I want a family, and I want to be happy. I know you're the key to my happiness. It sounds so stupid, but it's true what everyone's been saying about us lately. I love you more than I could possibly say."_

_Lorelai's mind raced through emotions of happiness, confusion, relief, fear, and confusion again as Luke opened the box and got on one knee. He was proposing to her. She'd thought about Luke's reaction to certain things she'd done or said, and it all suddenly made sense. Luke Danes had been pining for her since the day he met her._

"_Lorelai Gilmore, will you marry me?" he asked._

_Bursting into tears, unable to reply any other way, she simply nodded as he slipped the ring onto her finger._

Lorelai shot up from her bed, immediately looking to her left hand. It was bare. She took a moment to catch her breath and got out of bed, walking into the kitchen to find a note stuck to the refrigerator. Lorelai took it and skimmed it, learning that she'd slept past nine and that Rory was already at school. The dream doctor couldn't help her on this one.

She slipped on her coat and walked to Luke's, not knowing where else to go.


	2. Dream Come True

Lorelai walked into the diner, wondering why Rory hadn't been granted a snow day. This weather was keeping everyone at home or preventing anyone from doing anything important. But Chilton had to carry on, because six hours of education wasted would be an out and out crime.

She was unsure of where to sit, there were so many seats. Everyone was busy shoveling their walks, or plowing their cars out to try to get everything back to normal. She decided on the counter, taking off her scarf, gloves, and jacket to sit and have something to eat.

"Luke?" she called.

He came out from the kitchen, still wearing the hat she'd bought him. "Lorelai… how's your father?"

She nodded. "Good, he's good. Should be coming home soon. Listen, thank you again for everything you did for me… I really can't thank you enough."

He poured her a cup of coffee and placed it in front of her. "You're welcome."

"I just…" she sighed, holding back tears. "I don't know. I felt kind of stupid crying in front of you. Was that the first time you saw me crying at something serious?"

Luke shrugged. "That's the first time I can remember. And I hope it's the last… I hate seeing you upset."

Her eyes filled with tears and she looked up at him. Their eyes met, and the same tingly feeling she'd had in the dream came over her. It was a powerful, intense feeling of understanding, caring, and support… with a little something else. She sniffed, taking a napkin to wipe her eyes. "Really?"

"Of course, I don't have a heart made of stone. I've been there before," he replied softly, putting his hand on hers to comfort her. "And I obviously don't get pleasure through seeing other people get upset."

Lorelai sniffed again, and broke a smile through her tears. "Taylor?"

Luke shrugged, almost accepting Lorelai's point. "Okay, maybe just Taylor. But I care about you, Lorelai. Obviously this is totally different."

Their eyes met once again, and Lorelai couldn't help but compare the happenings to the dream. Taking a sip of coffee, she shook her head.

"You know, I had this really weird dream last night," she offered, partially changing the subject, but partly trying to have someone analyze her dream.

Luke stood up straight, and backed up slightly, letting go of Lorelai's hand to listen to her. "You did?" he asked.

She nodded. "I was at the inn, and someone lost their engagement ring."

"I'm no psychiatrist, but I think your dreams are all because of what happened yesterday. Your mind is in a hundred different places, and your dreams are slightly crazy because of it," Luke offered.

"There's more," Lorelai said, holding up her hand. "I yelled at Michel to find it, and when I was helping him look, there was a piece of paper, in the supply closet that said 'To Tell the Truth'. Weird, right? So, I take this old piece of paper, crumple it in my hands, and go around the inn, listening to everyone telling me these weird and strange secrets. Michel loved steak, Sookie had a guilty pleasure with the Food Network, and Kirk was jealous of Taylor!"

Luke shook his head. "Well, we know at least that the part with Sookie isn't true," he said.

Lorelai nodded. "There's more. I come here, hoping you'd be the sane one, telling me that I'm crazy, and that I need to stop drinking coffee or something."

"You are, and you do," he replied.

"I do not!" she gasped, pretending her feelings were hurt.

Luke folded his arms. "To each his own."

"Luke? When you said you care about me…"

He sighed. "You're… you're Lorelai. I mean, obviously I care about you and Rory more than I care about myself."

"You do?" she asked, almost in disbelief.

"Of course I do. You… mean a lot to me," he replied quickly, walking into the kitchen.

Lorelai took a deep breath and followed him into the kitchen. "You can't just say that to a girl and walk away, leaving her to interpret her own ending to the conversation… that's bad news. If you gave that little speech to any other girl, she'd think you were professing her love to you, Luke! And I'm beginning to think I'm a lot more like those girls than I thought I was."

This is what happens when you don't have Rory to interpret your dreams, she thought. She took a deep breath and continued as Luke turned around.

"The ending of my dream basically consisted of you, pulling me aside, and telling me the truth about how you felt about me. Call me crazy, but the part of this dream that I thought was the least probable is now coming true," she said, holding back tears once again. "And then you took out this ring, and asked me to marry you. And I said yes."

Luke sighed. "Can we talk? Caesar can handle the diner, I just heard him walk in."

Lorelai nodded, following Luke upstairs. Her dream was coming true, at least the end of it was. They sat at the kitchen table and Luke reached into his pocket. Lorelai put her forehead in her hands, unable to fathom that the dream was this accurate.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked, gently putting his hand on her arm.

Lorelai looked up at Luke, who was still sitting in the chair. She regained some composure at that moment, realizing that her dream wasn't about to come true. She was thankful, in a way, because she was an emotional wreck, and she wouldn't want more baggage to deal with.

He handed her an old piece of paper, yellowed with age, and watched her as she took it in her hands and read it.

"You will meet an annoying woman today… give her coffee and she'll go away," Lorelai read aloud, her voice shaking.

"You told me to keep it, and it would someday bring me luck. Well, it has been bringing me luck, and lots of it. I've gotten to know you, and Rory, and I am such a lucky guy to have that happen to me. And I hope it comes through now, with what I'm about to say," he started. He took a deep breath and continued.

"Lorelai, you walked into the diner that day, and from that day on, I really thought we had a connection. It was obvious that you and I couldn't be friends and remain that way forever. It was impossible. There was a certain feeling I got whenever you were around, and a totally uncomfortable feeling when you were seeing another guy. Despite the fact that you consume amounts of coffee that could solely keep the coffee industry alive, and despite the fact that you are slightly crazy, I've always had feelings for you, Lorelai."

She looked back at him, taking it all in. He was in love with her. It was the truth. She fidgeted with a sleeve on her blouse, glad she hadn't gone to Rory for interpretation of the dream. She leaned over, put one hand on Luke's cheek, and leaned in to kiss him. They kissed for quite awhile, almost as if to tell each other how they'd been feeling the entire time. Finally, she pulled away, quickly ran to the phone, and called Sookie.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Do you secretly have a thing for Emeril?" Lorelai asked, crossing her fingers.

Sookie made a gagging noise. "I hate commercialized stuff like that. Paul Newman can eat my dust," she teased. "Why?"

"Thanks," Lorelai said, hanging up the phone. She walked back over to Luke, leaning in for one last kiss, this one leaving Luke breathless.

"What was that for?" he asked.

She shrugged. "To tell you the truth, about how I was feeling this whole time," she admitted.


	3. The Dream Doctor is In

When Rory got home from school, she was surprised to see Lorelai sitting on the front step waiting for her.

"Are you crazy, woman? Waiting out here is going to cause you to become a giant snow woman! You'll have this ice block around you and people will use you as a study hundreds of years from now!" Rory teased.

Lorelai stood up. "Yeah, well, you're going to love this."

Rory turned to face Lorelai. "Oh, yeah? What did you do this time?"

Lorelai made a face at Rory. "Well, someone's a little punchy today."

"School is bad. That's all I care to share. What's up?" she asked, walking inside and putting her backpack down on the couch.

Lorelai took a deep breath. "So the dream doctor wasn't in this morning."

"Nope, there was school, despite the snow banks being up to my hip. Spill the dream, I'm here," Rory probed, taking off her gloves. "Should I put the sign up?"

Clearing her throat and walking into the kitchen, Lorelai began to recount the dream. "So I'm at the inn. I find this odd piece of paper, telling me "to tell the truth". Okay, sure, fine. Then Michel decides to admit to me that he loves steak and soap operas."

Rory scrunched up her nose. "Okay," she said tentatively.

"Weird, huh? So then, Sookie tells me that she loves the Food Network. I'm stunned. Kirk tells me he's jealous of Taylor. Frankly, I'm not exactly surprised, but whatever. I figure everyone's playing a joke on me so I go to Luke. Okay, all should be well at Luke's. But, Luke not only professes his love to me, but PROPOSES to me in this dream!"

"And what did you say?" Rory asked.

"Well, of course, I said 'yes,' it's a Lorelai Gilmore dream, remember this," Lorelai insisted.

Rory nodded. "I could see you saying yes after such a heartfelt purgation of emotion."

"All right, Miss Cleo, so what's the dream mean?" Lorelai pressed.

Rory shrugged. "I think the first part of it was crazy, but the second part is totally something you want."

Lorelai sighed. "Well, since you weren't here…"

Looking up from her book, Rory's eyes got wider. "What did you do?"

Lorelai fidgeted with her sleeve. "Uh, well, I went to Luke's."

"You went to Luke's and talked about this dream?" Rory confirmed.

Lorelai nodded. "And he told me… that he had feelings for me… but it wasn't so sudden, I kind of pulled it out of him, by accident."

"Wow. Then what happened?"

"Suddenly, I was this very, very confident person and just kissed him… and uh, I told him I felt the same way?" Lorelai asked, waiting for Rory to come up with some sort of solution to the dilemma she was in. "So what do I do?"

Rory looked at her Mom, smiling. "I'd take things slow, but this is what you really want. I know the googly eyes just as well as anyone else."

"Really?"

Rory shook her head. "Come on, Mom, I'm glad you finally told him the truth. And yourself the truth, man, you've been keeping it inside for a long time. Doesn't it feel good to tell the truth?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah, it does. I suppose I may not be needing your services on this one, I kind of already got it figured out without you. That okay?"

"Well," Rory started, "It's going to have to be, you already took care of it, but you know? My baby's growing up!"

"Very punchy, you're Muhammad Ali," Lorelai teased, following Rory into the living room pretending to box.

Rory turned around. "Mom?"

"Yes?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm kinda glad I wasn't here this morning. Things turned out all right."

Lorelai nodded. "I agree."

_The End_


End file.
